


At the Music Shop

by thermal_equilibrium



Series: Pedrazar AU's [1]
Category: Nothing Much to Do
Genre: Alternate Universe, M/M, Music Shop AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-10-26
Updated: 2014-11-18
Packaged: 2018-02-22 15:16:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 2,904
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2512334
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thermal_equilibrium/pseuds/thermal_equilibrium
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A compilation of all of the parts of my Pedrazar Music Shop AU.</p><p>Pedro's forced to live with his crazy music loving Uncle and help out with his store. But maybe it won't be so bad when he meets another boy his age with an affinity for ukuleles.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Pedro's uncle's name Aragon is because Don Pedro is the Prince of Aragon, just in case that needed explaining

Pedro massaged his temples gently with his fingers at the noise of yet another small child banging on the display drums. He didn’t have the energy to tell them to stop. He was almost certain that by the end of the summer, he would be completely deaf. Pedro mentally cursed his parents for going off on an expensive European tour and leaving him with his half brother, and his crazy uncle and his noise machine shop.

There was a ring of the bells on the doors, and Pedro looked up groggily. A skinny, blazer wearing kid that looked about his age stepped in cautiously. Pedro noted the look of pleasure that appeared in his eyes upon entering the crammed music store. The boy turned to the left, inspecting the collection of ukuleles that all looked the same to Pedro. 

A couple seconds later, Pedro’s uncle stumbled in, the vague sounds of crashing and glass shattering following him as they always seemed to do. He was carrying a stack of boxes that concealed half his face, and his shoelaces were untied, as per usual. When he peered over the boxes and saw the boy across the room, his eyes widened. He set down the boxes quickly on another stack in a precarious fashion, and ran over.

"Balthazar!" said Pedro’s Uncle excitedly. 

"Mr. Donaldson!" Balthazar smiled shyly. 

Uncle Aragon then proceeded to try and give a mildly successful fist bump, leaving _him_  pleased and Balthazar more amused then embarrassed.

"You got some new shipments of ukuleles, I see." said Balthazar. Pedro noted that he smiled more with his eyes than most people.

"I know! Aren’t they great!" said Uncle Aragon, his loud booming voice contrasting with Balthazar’s soft one.

"The Cole Clark has a nice sound." 

Uncle Aragon nodded absently, dusting his hands off on his band t-shirt distractedly, like there was something he needed to remember.

Pedro leaned forward, pushing his weight onto the counter in front of him.

"Oh! Right!" said Aragon. "My nephew Pedro’s staying here for the summer." He turned and acknowledged Pedro for the first time that morning. "You guys are around the same age, I think." He brushed a hand through his wild, thick hair. "I know I’m getting old when everyone from 13 to 22 looks the same."

Pedro gave Balthazar a closed mouth smile and a head nod. “Hey.”

"Hey." Balthazar kept his head down.

"Well!" puffed Uncle Aragon, satisfied with the introduction. "Unlike what I first thought, owning a music store takes actual work, so if you excuse me, I have to unpack some boxes. I swear that this store plays a major part in keeping the cardboard box companies in business."

Balthazar chuckled politely, and Aragon ran to go pick up the boxes and run them into some back room. The kid playing the drum had finally been dragged out by a parent, so they were alone.

Pedro walked around the counter, sliding up onto it from the front and leaving his hands in his lap. Balthazar tapped his fingers on his leg quietly.

"So…you live around here?" asked Pedro casually.

"Here? Oh…yeah…a couple blocks down." He seemed uncomfortable,  not knowing where to put his eyes and glancing up to Pedro’s face from the floor periodically. 

"That must be nice." Pedro responded, unaffected by the same shyness as Balthazar. 

Pedro had always prided himself on being easygoing, easy to talk to, confident. This boy was totally different than that. It intrigued him.

Balthazar stared at the blue grey wall to wall carpeting for a couple more seconds, before mumbling, “There was a…um…that ukulele…I wanted to…you know…really nice strings…I should—” He crinkled his eyes and looked up at Pedro.

"Oh, yeah. Of course. I have some ‘organizing’ to do anyway. Honestly, the filing system at this place was made by chickens." Pedro smiled, and watch Balthazar duck his head and swerve back towards the wall of instruments, finally in his element again.

Even as Pedro painstakingly made his way through the haphazard pieces of paperwork that littered the small area behind the desk, he glanced at Balthazar a couple of times, strumming quietly with his eyes closed.

When their eyes met, Pedro quickly looked down. He guessed working at a music store for an entire summer wouldn’t be  _all_ bad.


	2. Chapter 2

“Don’t forget to lock up on the way out! Can’t let any animals in. You know how they have an unreasonable hatred for slightly out of tune string instruments.” said Aragon, carrying a heavy looking guitar case (presumably with a guitar inside) on his back. 

"Right. Of course." Pedro smiled, and his uncle headed off to some jazz/electronica/country festival. Or "jalectry" as Aragon had said the day before. 

It was a week after he first arrived, and Pedro was finally settling in and getting used to the strange  _strange_  day to day habits of uncle Aragon. Balthazar hadn’t been back yet. Not that Pedro was staring at the door all day, he was just staring…casually,

A couple of customers came in and out, but Pedro wasn’t really paying attention. It was starting to get late; he was tired, even though it wasn’t that late. Pedro supposed lifting heavy keyboards would do that to you.

When 7:30 finally rolled around, Pedro made sure that everything was where it was supposed to be, and locked the door to the store. But before he could start to the stairs leading up to the apartment next door where his Aragon lived, a familiar face popped into his vision.

Balthazar was running, out of breath, his face streaked with desperation. When he saw the locked doors, he let out a soft, “Fuck.”

"Sorry." said Pedro.

Balthazar turned, surprised to see him there. He drew back into his shell. “No, it’s…it’s no problem.”

Pedro raised one eyebrow.

Balthazar fiddled with his jacket. “I just…uh…saved up enough money to buy my own ukulele.” he paused. “So…so…I uh…wanted to get here, before you closed.

"The one with the nice strings and full sound?" asked Pedro, smiling.

Pedro watched Balthazar look up and him with surprise. “Yeah.”

"Well, we’ll be open on Monday, so you can…" He tried his best to sound reassuring.

"Right." Balthazar let out a sigh. "I don’t know…."

"You don’t know…"

"I mean…my mom…she might…take before I can-" He scratched at the back of his collar. "It’s fine. Really."

It was a bit chilly outside for June, even at that time of night, and the ground was wet. Pedro was starting to get uncomfortable. He raised his eyebrow once again, and Balthazar blushed.

A few more seconds in the cold, damp outdoors passed. 

"You’re really good at that eyebrow thing." Balthazar remarked quietly.

Pedro’s smile widened. “Thanks.” He took a breath, grabbed the keys from his jean pocket, and toyed with them in his hands. “I can’t actually let you purchase anything after closing, but maybe we could go in and I could see you play?” He smile turned sneaky.

"Yeah." Balthazar’s eyes gleamed.

"You know, just to make sure you’re really serious about the whole ukulele thing, and that it’s not just a complicated ruse to steal all the clarinet reeds from under my nose." teased Pedro.

Balthazar squinted. “You don’t sell clarinet reeds.”

"Okay,  _very_  complicated ruse then.”

It made Pedro happy to see Balthazar smile for real for the first time. He had a nice face.

He was also very happy to get inside the warm store just as it started to rain.


	3. Chapter 3

Pedro heard the loud dinging of the bells mix with the pattering of rain as they entered the store together. He flipped on one set of florescent lights, their hum adding to the sound. 

"Which one is it?" asked Pedro quietly, not wanting to break the peacefulness of the store after hours.

"It’s over here." said Balthazar, giving him a quick look and walking over towards a dark maple ukulele. He brushed his hand along the sides of the shiny instrument.

"Is it soft?" said Pedro, jokingly.

"Yeah." responded Balthazar genuinely. He didn’t look away from the instrument. He gently lifted it from where it was hanging on the wall, bringing it to his chest and strumming a chord. Pedro found himself drawn to his eyes, the way they narrowed in fascination.

Balthazar slowly plucked each string, then cringed. “It’s terribly out of tune.”

"Do you want me to get a tuner? My uncle is awful at taking inventory, he wouldn’t notice."

"It’s fine." Balthazar’s eyes flicked to Pedro’s for another short moment. "I can do it myself."

Pedro watched him sit down on the carpet cross legged, and followed him, sitting opposite. Balthazar began to pluck at the ukulele, adjusting the little peg things on the side as he went. Pedro enjoyed watching this more than he expected. He slid forward, so that their knees were almost touching. It was probably easiest to listen that way. Balthazar paused and took a deep breath. 

With Balthazar, there was a lot of silence. Not in a way where their was no sound altogether, just not a lot of talking. That wasn’t something Pedro was used to. His friends back home were just as loud as he was, maybe more. They would yell, and talk, and talk. 

This was different. 

"What are you gonna play?" urged Pedro softly, sad to shatter the silence but eager to hear Balthazar make music.

"I don’t know." Balthazar  looked him in the eye for a significant amount of time for the first time that evening. Pedro had to look away. "Any requests?"

Pedro mulled over the sort of music that he listened to. He wasn’t an avid fan, mostly listened to the radio when he was in the car, that sort of thing. He knew for sure that this boy with a ukulele had a much more extensive knowledge of music.

"Nope." said Pedro, biting the the inside of his lip a bit. "Play whatever."

Balthazar nodded, took a second, then picked at the strings in what Pedro assumed was a chord.

“ _Sigh no more, ladies, sigh no more…”_ _  
_

Pedro listened to the song, watching Balthazar’s eyes close from time to time, focusing on the music.

"Who’s it by?" asked Pedro, when he’d finished playing the last note.

Balthazar’s confidence that had been drawn out from the ukulele rushed back into it’s shell. “Well…um…I wrote it.”

"Oh."

They heard the bells on the door go off again. Pedro scrambled off the floor, suddenly away of how close he and Balthazar had been. Aragon galloped in, his hair wet and crazier than usual.

"Well." said Pedo’s uncle. "Apparently,  _some_  people are under the misconception that rain can stop a good jalectry festival.”

Pedro smiled halfheartedly, his heart rate fast. “Sorry about that.” 

"Eh. It’s not a big deal. It’s not even the best jalectry festival around here." Aragon put down his guitar, spotting Balthazar. "Balth! What are you doing here!"

Balthazar looked to Pedro.

"He just wanted to test out a ukulele, I hope that’s okay." said Pedro, trying to pull charm, but still a bit frazzled.

"Oh!" exclaimed Uncle Aragon. "Ooooh." He glanced a Pedro quickly. “‘Course! Anything for my favorite customer!"

Balthazar looked relieved. Aragon winked at Pedro.

Pedro was just confused.


	4. Chapter 4

Pedro flipped pancakes the next day, happy to see that they weren’t  _quite_  as burnt as the last batch was. He’d been slowly teaching himself recipes from the internet as a means of nourishing himself. It turned out that staying with Uncle Aragon was less like being supervised and more like babysitting.

At the mere thought of his person, Aragon stumbled into the kitchen, shoes untied and shirt inside out, rubbing his eyes groggily. Pedro prepared a plate of mostly edible pancakes and slid it over to his uncle.

"11:00. That’s a record. I thought I was the teenager." said Pedro.

"Well, I will have you know having to wake up at 7:00 every weekday morning to get the shop ready is no easy task, I can tell you that for—" Aragon’s long winded statement was cut off with a yawn.

"Of course."

Aragon took a bite of his pancake, then furrowed his brow. “There was something I was supposed to remember.” He looked down on at his hand, which was marked with a messy message in pen. “Right! Balthazar’s coming in to help with my new ‘getting kids into music’ thing on Monday.”

Pedro turned around, trying to not show how excited he was to see a guy he had only seen two times before. “Really?”

Aragon swallowed the last bite of pancake (he ate like a teenager, too.) and his expression turned more serious. 

"Pedro, I just want you to know…I’m totally okay with you and him…" He looked a bit confused, like he couldn’t figure out his words. "I mean…Balthazar is a very nice guy and…I just wanted you to know that you’re good with me." Aragon looked up.

"What?"

"You know…you’re parents, they’re-" He made waving hand motions up by his head. "Just—I got you’re back." His face was proud, like he’d finally gotten his point across.

He hadn’t.

Pedro couldn’t think straight. What was he saying? What was Pedro supposed to say back?

He decided on, ”You’re shirts on backwards.”

"It is? Damnit! Not again." Aragon ran back into his room, leaving Pedro even more confused than before.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If more is wanted, please let me know!


	5. Chapter 5

Pedro pattered into the small living room, stretching out across the couch-turned-bed where he'd been sleeping the past week or so. What had Aragon been talking about? And what was with all the smug faces he was getting from him? Pedro couldn't even properly remember what his uncle had said, much less what he meant. Something about Balthazar?

Yeah. Definitely Balthazar. The boy himself was only adding to Pedro's confusion. The way his face looked, so raw and open sometimes, like a book that just needed to be slid ajar a bit before all of it's knowledge rushed out. The way you could see in his smile how caring and kind and compassionate and supportive he was. The way he could hold something like it was pure gold.

Oh. Oh! Ohhh. He-he...felt like...that. Well. That was definitely...different.

After about an hour of watching his toes wiggle around, and a few badly worded google searches, Pedro came to the conclusion that he really didn't care and so what if he was attracted to Balthazar he would figure it out later.

If only he didn't have to wait for tomorrow to see him again...

__________________________________________________

When the day finally did roll around, Pedro was hit with a sudden wall of insecurity. What was he supposed to do now?! He didn't even know if Balthazar liked him...like that. Had they been flirting? How was he supposed to tell?

Aragon, seeing Pedro's distress, clapped him on the back and gave him a wink as he went down to meet Balthazar so they could wrangle young children into playing instruments.

Pedro stayed upstairs, pacing for the first time in his life. Relaxation, a usual regular in his conversation, had abandoned him. His sock-bearing feet slid on the hardwood floor, creating heat from friction that only added to his distress.

When he finally put on some shoes and made his way down to the shop, he could see Balthazar with the same kid who had been banging on the drums the first time he had met him. By some strange irregularity of the universe, the kid was quiet and focused, letting Balthazar gently show him where to move his hands on the guitar. Pedro was struck by it. He didn't know Balthazar had the magical capability to subdue small children.

Pedro slowly meandered toward them not getting much close for fear of interrupting, until Balthazar looked up and caught his eye. He leaned over to the kid with the much to big guitar and said something quietly, the boy lifting the instrument with some difficulty, handing it to Balthazar, and skittering away.

The bells in the doors run as the kid ran out, and Pedro took that as his cue. He took a deep breath, mustering up all of the charm that he knew must have been in there somewhere, and took the until previously annoying and loud kid's seat next to Balthazar.

"So," said Pedro. "Uh...written any new songs?"

Balthazar looked at him with sheer innocence. "It's been three days."

"Right. Guess that's a bit short of an amount of time then." said Pedro, and Balthazar smiled. Pedro internally cursed himself for being so awkward. And then externally cursed himself. "Sorry. Um...Balthazar. Do you wanna...go-outside with me?"

"Anywhere in particular or is it just ambiguous?" asked Balthazar, adorably looking down as his eyes crinkled up.

"I don't really know the town very well, so..."

Balthazar's tone became more assertive. "There's this good gelato place near here, where we could go. You know...if you want."

Pedro could feel his rib cage stubbornly refuse to expand. "Yes. I mean, yeah. That'd be fun."

His breathing troubles definitely didn't clear up as Balthazar took a loose hold onto one of his hands and gently led him out the door. Pedro just hoped Aragon wasn't watching.

**Author's Note:**

> I love you all for all the happy support I've got on this AU! I'm really enjoying it.


End file.
